


The Children We Failed

by itsnotmyfault



Series: Dream SMP Oneshots [3]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Murder, Dissociation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Execution, Heavy Angst, I had way too much fun writing this, Other, Sort of? - Freeform, Spoliers for 12-16 Stream, Unreliable Narrator, like phil starts hallucinating and shit, man loses little bit of hope he didnt even know he had but then he gets it back, phils kind of in the middle of a mental breakdown but thats ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28120479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsnotmyfault/pseuds/itsnotmyfault
Summary: ....never needed us anyway.-Phil watches Techno's execution.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Dream SMP Oneshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078505
Comments: 13
Kudos: 338





	The Children We Failed

**Author's Note:**

> i had wayyy to much fun writing this. also my w key is kind of half working so if you see a missing w thats why. But yay! Phil angst!

The moment Phil sees Techno, whatever few pieces of hope he had left are shattered into nothing. 

It’s a 1v4, which usually wouldn’t mean much to Techno, but considering the fact that the man has no armor and likely no weapons makes Phil’s stomach do more flips than he ever could. If it weren’t for that goddamn ankle bracelet he’d go down there and land a punch right there in Quackity’s face, armor or not. 

He barely registers Techno’s cries about leaving him out of this, which is stupid in its own right. The father is supposed to be punished, not the child. But Techno’s placed far too much faith in him for him to just voice that now, while a sword is pointed at his neck. 

Phil wants to say something, anything, to get them to stop. But nothing comes out. There’s no trial, no chance. Phil’s going to sit and watch as another one of his sons die, and while he might not be plunging his sword into his stomach, the guilt still weighs so much he might as well be. 

He’s failed another child. He’s failed again. The son he spent the most time with because he didn’t have anyone. He lets out a sad and quiet chuckle. He really is a horrible father, isn’t he? Killed one child, doomed another. If his track record is anything to go by, he should stay as far away from Tommy as possible. 

They’ve already shoved him into the cage and locked it up. For a second, Techno’s cape turns brown and his shaking hands grow black gloves, and it’s Wilbur because it always comes back to fucking Wilbur and the blood that still stains that goddamn sword and- 

They’re having some sort of speech now. About how Techno ruined everything for them. Phil can’t help but snort. L’manberg has grown past the crater he left. Hell, L’manberg wouldn’t have even been here had Techno not given them what they needed. Techno’s half the reason the country is still standing, and yet here he is, about to be executed like some criminal. 

(He would’ve never had to go that far, had Phil been there for him. Had Phil arrived just minutes sooner, soon enough to pull him away from the skulls and soul sand and just talked some sense into him. But that’s nothing more than a pathetic dream now, washed away by time and other horrid events.) 

And then, the sound of feet hitting the ground and screaming breaks him out of his daydream. 

Someone- Punz is placing TNT and giving Phil a heart attack. If that goes off, while Techno is right next to it, that’ll be the end of him for sure. His ears catch up to his brain and he hears the shouting and screaming as Punz violently swings at the residents, creating dents and tears in that armor that they don’t deserve. It’s nothing but a momentary distraction, but for a second Phil can pretend that Techno’s going to get out of this alive. 

Said man is watching the fight with disinterest written all over his face. Phil doesn’t know for the life of him how he can remain calm throughout all this, knowing his execution is mere minutes away. Unless Dream himself comes down and interferes, Techno’s practically doomed. 

His point is proven right when in the middle of the fight, Quackity turns his attention to the lever that decides his son’s fate. Phil can feel words erupting from his throat now, but they’re jumbled and mixed and it’s not like he can change what’s already happened. With an angry shove, the lever is flicked down and the sound of machinery echoes through the sleeping nation. Phil’s hands finally catch up with the world around him, and he erratically grabs his bow and points it where he hopes the anvil’s going to fall too, though considering his shaking hands and blurred vision, it’s hopeless. The arrow sails under them as they fly down to-to- 

(To Wilbur’s already dead body, lying underneath the rubble and the sword that Phil himself plunged into his heart and snuffed any life out of-)

(To Tommy’s terrified face as Dream points the sword at him and dragged him down the obsidian walls, as he screamed and shouted at Tubbo that he still believed in him, that he better not become the next Schlatt, that-) 

To Techno, glowing gold and green-

Wait, what?

Phil blinks the tears out of his eyes (when did they get there?) and watches in a mix of growing excitement and shock as Techno pulls himself above the anvils, using the fight as a distraction to go and run off towards his horse. The trails of gold and green sparkles follow him as the shouting rises, particularly from a very angry Quackity, chasing him down with an axe. It takes him a full minute to fully process what just happened-

_ “Hey Phil, one of these days, you wanna go hunting for a dark oak mansion? For those totems?”  _

Of course. Of fucking course. 

Technoblade wouldn’t die like that. Technoblade would drop two anvils on himself before allowing himself to die like that. 

There’s a strange, bubbly feeling rising in his chest. Maybe it’s happiness. Excitement. Joy. Phil can’t identify it, and he doesn’t care to. Because Technoblade is alive,  _ dammit.  _ And that’s all Phil needs right now. 

He’s laughing like a maniac. A broken, insane maniac. But he doesn’t care. It’s hard to care about anything, the angry shouts of the people around him, the arrows being fired from a pissed Tubbo, the sky being clouded by rain clouds, because it doesn’t fucking matter. Because while Phil may be too much of a failure to save his son, his son easily saved himself. 

He tightly closes the door to his house as he leans against the wall. Techno’s alive, alive, alive, and probably far away if he did manage to get his hands on Carl. He’s alive, alive, alive and ok and- 

His communicator rings. He opens to see the euphoric message: 

_ “Quackity was slain by Technoblade.”  _

Phil’s laughing with his whole chest now. Techno’s got no gear, no weapons, no nothing but his horse and the clothes on his back, and they still couldn’t fucking kill him. Of course. Of fucking course. 

God, why does he feel like he’s floating? He didn’t even do anything. His son was nearly executed and he didn’t do shit to stop it. And yet, he can’t get this wonderful buzz out of his brain. He can’t stop laughing, laughing, and laughing like there’s no tomorrow. 

Because Technoblade is alive, dammit. And that’s all that mattered. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appericated! Thanks for reading!


End file.
